An Archaeologist's Diary Trivia Quiz

Answer: Acropolis

The best known citadel in Greece, the Acropolis is a fortress overlooking Athens. With a history going back as far as the Third millennium BC, the most important surviving buildings within it were constructed during the Fifth century BC. The site has undergone much destruction, many changes of use and periods of repair. During the Nineteenth century, much material from the Byzantine, Frankish and Ottoman periods was removed in order to "cleanse" the site.

The photo provides a night-time view of the Acropolis.

Answer: Leaning tower

Construction of this bell tower (or campanile) started in the Twelfth century and took just short of 200 years to complete, with a pause of nearly 100 years whilst battling other Italian city states. The lean was unintended and is due to inadequate foundations. Eventually the bell chamber was fitted in 1372 and seven bells installed. Engineering work during the 20th and 21st centuries is claimed to have stopped the lean increasing. The photo shows the Tower partially hidden by the cathedral.

Answer: Versailles

Originally built in the countryside as a hunting lodge for Louis XIII in 1624, it was expanded in phases to become one of the world's largest palaces and the centre of French political power during the reign of Louis XIV (the Sun King). The French Revolution in 1789 saw his grandson Louis XVI move back into Paris and eventually meet a guillotine blade. Versailles is now a suburb of Paris.

Answer: Uffizi Gallery

Built as office accommodation ('Uffizi' means 'offices') in the 16th century to help consolidate the power of Cosimo I de' Medici, it was also used to house the art works of the Medici family. With the demise of the House of Medici, the building became a museum housing the Medici art works and opened to the public in 1765.

Answer: Herculaneum

Both Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The eruption buried much detail of the day to day lives of these Romans including in some cases their graffiti (such as the ones quoted in the question). It brings to mind the scene in Monty Python's film 'Life of Brian' where a Roman centurion corrects the grammar of a would-be People's Front of Judea member and makes him write out the corrected form 'Romani ite domum!' (Romans go home) one hundred times as punishment and then tells him to go.

Since this is a family site, the majority of the Pompeii and Herculaneum graffiti is best not repeated here. Suffice to say that the Romans were not adverse to insulting people or being lewd.

Answer: Parthenon

One of the main buildings on the Acropolis in Athens, the Parthenon was built in the Fifth century BC as a temple to Athena. At times a treasury, a Christian church, a mosque and an ammunition dump, it is the most important surviving building from the Classical Greek age. The photo shows a view of it.

The Elgin Marbles were 'rescued' by Lord Elgin in 1806 and sold to the British Museum where they are on display. The Greek government has been trying to recover them since 1983.

Answer: Basilica Cistern

The Basilica Cistern was the largest of hundreds of ancient water storage chambers built under Istanbul. This one dates to the Sixth century and measures just under 10,000 square metres in area with a capacity to store 80,000 cubic metres of water. It features 336 nine-metre high supporting marble columns, most of which appear to have been salvaged from older buildings (see the photo).

Constantinople was renamed Istanbul in 1923 so our diarist seems to have been writing before this.

Answer: Alexandria

Founded by Alexander the Great in the Fourth century BC as his capital in Egypt, Alexandria remained so for nearly a thousand years. The Pharos of Alexandria was built in the Third century BC and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

It was damaged by various earthquakes and was gone by 1480 when the last blocks of stone were re-used in the citadel (see photo) on the site of the lighthouse. Some of the lighthouse remains have been discovered on the floor of Alexandria's Eastern harbour.

Answer: Carthage

Capital of the Empire bearing its name, its prime location on the Mediterranean coast opposite Sicily gave it control of maritime trade and it became a major powerhouse in the Mediterranean. Warring with Syracuse, Numidia and Rome for supremacy, the Romans proved to be its demise, destroying it in 146 BC after defeating its famous general Hannibal in the Third Punic War. The photo shows a mosaic of Hannibal on a wall in Carthage.

About 100 years later Julius Caesar rebuilt the city for the Romans and it became centre of their African province. It was destroyed again in 698 by the armies of the Umayyad Caliphate. The ruins are now found in a suburb of Tunis

Answer: Marathon

Marathon in Greece was the site of a famous battle in 490 BC where an outnumbered Greek army met and defeated the invading Persians. The modern marathon race is based on the courier Pheidippides' run from the battlefield to Athens to announce the Greek victory. Browning's poem written in 1879 is said to have inspired the founders of the modern Olympic Games to create the race, which was held at the first meet in Athens in 1896.